A Timely Tragedy

Deviant Women and Cultural Dissonance in Kim Ki-young’s 'The Housemaid'

Abstract

In recent history, the Korean peninsula has endured change at a remarkable pace, transitioning from an insular unified entity to a battleground of cultural encounters and political upheaval. This article examines the renowned Korean director Kim Ki-young’s (1919–1998) film The Housemaid (1960) as an expression of the culturally contingent anxieties surrounding modernisation in post-war South Korea. This film serves an allegory for the dissonant socio-political climate during the early 1960s, presented through a narrative of a fatal affair between an emasculated husband and a young housemaid. Kim explores themes concerning Korean patriarchal norms, the state’s paranoia regarding the West and the role of women in a rapidly modernising Korean society. Central to The Housemaid’s narrative is the presentation of deviant women as symbolic of broader societal concerns, embodied by an industrious housewife whose material ambitions signal a departure from the state-sponsored ideal of personal frugality. The housemaid is hired to compensate for the housewife’s inability to fulfil her expected domestic and maternal responsibilities, and her introduction heralds the destruction of the Korean family. Kim’s portrayal of the housemaid’s unpredictable behaviour and her manipulation of the patriarch illustrates the destabilising force of modernisation. The underlying cultural tensions surrounding the undermining of gender roles in the traditional Confucian family are also evident in Kim’s depiction of an emasculated husband. This article highlights the multifaceted anxieties of post-colonial, post-war Korean society surrounding the erosion of traditional values, the liberation of women and the looming threat of ideological intrusions from the West. By examining Kim Ki-young’s writing and his unique cinematic approach, this article offers valuable insights into the cultural, social and psychological aspects of this period of South Korea’s modernisation process. Ultimately, The Housemaid serves as a compelling and provocative reflection of the prevailing sentiments concerning modernity and the patriarchal family.